Naruto : Master of Deception
by TheDaedalusGun
Summary: That orange-clad devil, the bane of Anbu, the light of the village... is a lie. A very clever lie constructed by the real Naruto. His purpose: To ensure the safety and prosperity of Konoha. He can do it, but it'll be one crazy ride. Rated M for some language and violence, but nothing too excessive. NARUHINA! Little bit of every Genre. Mostly.
1. Chapter 1 : An Enigma of a Man

**Hey! Guess what?! I don't own Naruto... Masashi Kishimoto does... Please support the official release... please...**

"State your name, age, and your affiliation, please."

"Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. Age thirteen. Shinobi of Konohagakure."

It was a small space. The only furniture was the table the two shinobi were sitting at, the focus of the black walled room. There was a large mirror on one wall. An aged, scarred man sat on one side, recorder in front of him, next to an ashtray. He looked at the young man and asked, "Do you smoke?"

"No," the kid replied. "That's pretty bad for you, you know. Twenty five thousand known ninjutsu in the world, countless genjutsu, and over sixty thousand non-Konoha shinobi, and you choose to kill yourself with a cigarrette." The scarred man smiled at that.

"You seem pretty knowledgeable," he said. "You read alot?"

"Every chance I get."

"What do you read?"

"Anything. Historical texts, fiction, non-fiction, news. I love taking in raw information. Don't really have a specific preference. You haven't given me your name, you know. I already know who you are, Mr. Morino, but it's still polite to introduce yourself."

Ibiki didn't show it, but he was a little suprised at this. After all, most genin don't know anything about Konoha's torture and interrogation forces. But this kid was not most genin.

"My apologies. My name is Ibiki Morino, Konoha's commanding officer of the Interrogation force."

"And torture," Naruto added.

"Yes. And torture." Ibiki shuffled some papers around, and then stood up.

"I'll return in a moment."

Naruto crossed his arms and propped his legs up onto the table.

"Take all the time you need."

Ibiki left the room through a very sturdy metal door on one of the walls. Outside the room, he entered a larger room, a viewing room where one could see through the one sided mirror. Inside were the jounin of teams seven, eight, and ten, as well as Anko Mitarashi, and The Hokage, Tsunade Senju, along with her assistant Shizune, and Danzo Shimura. The Hokage turned to Ibiki.

"What's the problem? Why'd you leave?" Tsunade asked.

"Lady Hokage, with all due respect, I don't want to interview him," Ibiki replied. "We have no idea of his capabilities, and from what we've seen, if I piss him off, he could crush my head with one hand. I would like restraints put on him."

"No." The now stern Hokage glared at Ibiki. "If we do that, we'll lose even more of his trust. Konoha has screwed that child over too many times, and he still has not abandoned us. I will not let this village do any more harm to him."

This time it was Danzo who spoke up, saying, "Senju, your duty is to Konoha, not-"

"SILENCE! You listen to me, you decrepit old fool. The only reason I returned to this cancer of a village is because Naruto convinced me that the will of fire is not dead, because he showed me that I shouldn't just drink my problems away. I'm here for him, and I'm here to help people like him. And everyone in this room has been shoved into the shit enough times to know that this village needs fixing. It needs a doctor, if you will, and I am she. We will listen to him, and listen to what he has to say, and what he has done, and we'll use that to scrub this place clean, and build it back up. Now, Mr. Morino, are you comfortable conducting the interview, or would you like someone else to do it?"

Ibiki took a moment to regain his senses, after seeing the Hokage snap, and said, "Lady Hokage, I'll be fine conducting it, but don't you think there is someone he would more easily speak with?"

The Hokage thought for a moment. "What about Iruka?"

Kakashi raised his head. "That's not a bad idea. Naruto may have hidden his true self, but I do not believe his emotions toward most were false. His affection for the teacher as a brother figure would make him more relaxed."

Tsunade nodded her head. "All right. Fetch him."

Interview of Naruto Uzumaki, Tape 1.

Static. Clicking.

I: "Okay. Iruka Umino, Chuunin, age 23. Interview of Naruto Uzumaki, tape one."

N: "Namikaze."

I: "I'm sorry?"

N: "Namikaze. My last name. My father's last name. It's what I go by now."

I: "Oh. I see. My apologies. So, um... Let's start by, uh, asking... What caused you to hide yourself."

N: "Why do you want to know?"

I: "Wha- Why do I want to know? Well, the village needs to decid-"

N: "I didn't ask about the village, Sensei. I was asking you."

I: "..."

I: "*sigh* Look, Naruto, they asked me to do this, okay? But I really want to know why. Was your whole life just a lie? Why hide yourself and your strength? And your heritage, for that matter, why would you hide the fact that you're the son o-"

N: "You think I did that? I didn't even know until the first year of Academy, not for sure, anyway. I wish I had known, I wish everyone had known. Thing's would have been easier. Easier on me, on you, on the Hokage. I could have done things if people had known."

I: _silence_

N: "This one time, when I was six, I went to get some ice cream. It was kind of hot that day, and, well, I was a kid. I wanted ice cream. Anyway, I'm going to get the ice cream, and I'm walking down the street, and this big, very frightening man steps in my way. He's wearing a mock Anbu mask, he's piss drunk, and is just staring at me. I say, 'yes?' Do you know what he does, Sensei?"

I: _silence_

N: "He kicks me so fucking hard that I was knocked into a wall two feet off of the ground, I vomited, and when I woke up, it was two days later, and I was in the hospital."

I: _silence_

N: "Now tell those people that little brat is the son of the fourth Hokage. Do you think they'd kick me again? And if they had known that by the age of nine I would have Jounin level speed and Kage level chakra with UNBELIEVABLE density, they would have hunted me down and slaughtered me out of fear. You ask me why I hid myself."

I: _silence continues_

N: "I did it because I was afraid."

Four Years Ago

Naruto ran as fast as he could, panting, his heart beating too fast to count. Buildings, people, and shapes passed by him in a blur as he sped down the street. His mind ran through the reasons it had happened. _Was there a problem with the wiring? Did it break? Had something screwed it up?_

Naruto reached a large white complex, his destination, and shot through the doors at incredible speeds. A receptionist who sat in a desk near said doors would later laim to her friends that she had witnessed the ghost of the Fourth Hokage.

The orange covered shinobi reached a door and stopped, preparing himself for what lay beyond. He exhaled, straightened his hair, as best he could, and opened the door.

"-Always bring a pancil to... oh, hello. Who might you be?" A chuunin with a large horizontal scar on his face asked.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm sorry I'm late, my alarm didn't go off."

"I see. It's quite alright, just take a seat." The man motioned to the rest of the class.

Naruto slowly walked past him and into the right aisle, taking the only available seat, next to a young boy with black hair and a... fan? Naruto made a mental 'oh'. _Uchiha_, he thought. He turned his head to survey the rest of the class, and found a large number of glares directed his way from the female populace._ If you're all too chicken to sit here, I'm gonna take it. Don't leave this as the only remaining seat, idiots_, he thought. He looked back into the crowd and notice one girl whip her head in another direction. He knew who it was._ Hinata._ He smiled.

_I think this is gonna be a hectic four years._

**Stay tuned for more about Naruto. Wanted to spread the exposition out a few chapters, leave some secrets. Don't worry, I won't have any serious cliffhangers, just some light ones to lead into a new chapter. Personally, I hate cliffhangars, which is ironic, because I'm a huge fan of Lost. Anyway, I'll be back soon with some more. BTW, there will be slight bashing of some characters, but I'm gonna make them change into better people, I'm not just gonna hate on them. Sasuke will play a big part in this story, but it won't be Sasuke-centric, so chill. Also, the pairing will be NaruHina, but, same with Sasuke, the story will be about many things, so don't ragequit. Also, again, I'm changing things, so don't be all, 'This isn't realistic to Canon'! Just enjoy the story. Adios.**


	2. Chapter 2 : School Days

**Hey, everybody! Hey, how you doing tonight! What's up, New York!?**

**All right, now I'm just saying stuff. I'm Back with another one, so...**

**Go wild. ( A cookie for you if you guess the manga/anime that's from. )**

**Hint: DirtyRedCommie, my editor and confidant, guessed Toriko. Apparently he says it alot. It's not! There, that's the only hint you get.**

**I don't own Naruto, nor anything related to it. I'm not making a profit, I just enjoy the massive series and its possibility in storytelling. Please support the official release by buying merchandise, reading the manga, watching the anime, and checking out all the cool fan art and fics.**

**Also, just realized there is a story on Wattpad with the same name as my fic, so... to the author of that, I apologize. No stealin' was meant. Didn't even know there was one, but these things happen with fics.**

"All right, all right, settle down", Iruka half said, and half yelled. New students were always rowdy, but this batch... He sighed. It was gonna be a hectic four years.

"Okay, let's see... Chouji Akimichi?"

"Here," yelled a somewhat extremely plump child from the back of the room. His words were a tad garbled over the mouthful of chips.

"Shikamaru Nara?" Iruka looked around at the silent classroom. His eyes locked on to a boy sleeping in the seat next to Choji. His most discernable quality was his spiky top ponytail. That, and, well... he looked like a Nara.

"Here." He stopped writing, and put the pencil to his chin. After a pause, he wrote, 'Asleep'. He chuckled.

From the seat next to Sasuke, Naruto was silently observing his classmates. Iruka's voice became a dull sound blurred out by thought. He'd already picked out the ones who would pass. _The Uchiha is a given. He's not as good as his brother, but he's got talent. The Nara's lazy, but smart. They all are. The other clan kids will pass. Don't know about the rest._

His eyes darted around the room, analyzing each and every students facial expressions, level of attention, apparel, and hands. Hands show some very important in Shinobi and aspiring Shinobi. Callusses and cuts show training, ink stains mean they write, study, or seal alot, and thicker, darker skin means they've worked with chakra extensively. Chakra burns heal fairly well, but they still show. Sasuke had cuts, callusses, and some thicker skin on his fingertips. Hinata had the same, except for the darker skin. The pink haired girl had ink stains. Choji had salt on his hands from the chips. Everyone else had unscathed flesh.

"Naruto!" A shout came from the front of the room.

"What?" He turned, caught off guard. The class laughed at his reaction, and Iruka sighed.

"We're not going to make a habit of this, are we?" He lowered his head and raised an eyebrow.

Naruto's disguise kicked in. "Nah, Sensei! I'll be good!" He smiled so wide his eyes shut.

"Okay, then." Iruka began to continue his speech.

I: "Okay, wait. Why start there? Why not get to the main points?"

N: "Because my memories far back get hazy. And I'm telling the story, so I'll tell it my way. Deal with it."

I: "Naruto, this is serious-"

N: "Shut up."

I: "I... "

N: "I know it's serious. I know that. But I'm telling it my way, so you'll understand. Don't you sit there and command me to do shit, because this is my life, and I've made a lot of goddamned sacrifices for this village. I'll tell you what you want to know MY Way and that's that. I've always cared about you, Sensei, but I won't let my personal feelings allow you to push me around. You're one of Konoha's better people. Act like it."

I: _Silence._

I: "I'm sorry. You're right. I should be on your side. I just... I don't know. I'm just so confused by all of this.

N: "I know. I'll continue. I wanted to tell you about that day because my analyzation of my classmates, the ones who could make good Shinobi, allowed me to... help them."

I: "Help them?"

N: "Yeah... small things. Sakura is great at taking in information, so I would put notes in her book when she wasn't look. I'd reference other texts and highlight things. I'd do it ahead of where she was in the book, so she'd think someone did it before she got the book. And Kiba? Come on. I mean, he's a great guy, but he's not the brightest. I manipulated his feedback on assignments so his family would get him a tutor. And he's better now, right? Just small things. slight changes that will ripple out in the long term."

I: "... You... YOU MANIPULATED TEST SCORES?!"

N: "WHOAH, SENSEI, CHILL! I manipulated your feedback, and said he got scores above failing because he put in 'effort'. He actually got those scores, but he did need a tad higher IQ. I didn't do anything illegal."

I: "... So... You did all that to just help them?"

N: "Yeah. I was gonna have to trust these people with my life, so I'd like them to be strong and smart."

I: "Okay, can you tell me about your disguise? Let's just get that out of the way."

N: "*sigh* All right. It's a prototype seal, so I'll just explain the rules. First, to create a 'permanent indistinguishable henge', you have to completely design your disguise in your mindscape, which is VERY difficult. The level of tranquility and perfect stillness which must be achieved is equal to what is required for Sage arts."

I: "Really? That's impressive."

N: "Yeah, it was crap to do. After you've designed the 'character', you have to creade a seal which will simultaneously hide you and create the solid body disguise, and it's unique to every individual. It takes roughly the same amount of chakra as a boss level summoning jutsu, and after it's put into effect, it takes double the amount of chakra as a regular henge to uphold."

I: _Silence._

I: "N... Naruto... How much chakra do you have, personally?"

N: "My own reserves are about half of what Hashirama Senju had in his prime. And they're still growing."

I: "... My god... How do... How does no one know?"

N: "The use of seals can hide my signature. Seals can do a great many things. Konoha still stands because of them. I aspire to one day surpass Jiraiya and my father in seal mastery."

I: "Wow... just... wow. *sigh* Okay, lets, uh... lets just get back to the story, before I lose track with questions. Where are you picking up?"

N: "I think I'll start with the graduation exams. the stuff during the Academy wasn't too important to tell all of it, and anything I need to say about it can just be brought up later."

Tsunade stared throught the glass at the blond boy across from Iruka. His dark golden hair fell over his shoulders in locks resembling Kurenai's, but a tad less wild. His dark blue eyes were deep with wisdom, yet showed pain at the same time. His face had two scar lines on his lower left cheek, and one small scar line on the bridge of his nose. He looked so much like his parents, but so unique at the same time. He was certainly taller than his parents when they were his age. His height was equal to Kakashi's. He turned his head toward the glasss.

He was looking right at her.

"Can he see us?" Asuma asked.

Tsunade was silent.

"Hokage-sama?" Kurenai gently laid a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped slightly. "Are you all right?" She asked the older and wiser Kunoichi.

"Yes... Just... *sigh*. I'm fine. I just feel like I don't even know him. I feel like he's this strange yet familiar person. It's like seeing a long lost brother to an old friend who's passed away. Who is he? What does he think about me? I... I love Naruto like a son, but... Is this even him?"

The room was silent. The only ones who were there were Tsunade, Kurenai, and Anko. The rest had left for certain reasons. They'd be back later.

Anko spoke up this time. "I'm sure he is. If he didn't like you, you'd know. And if he's a little distant, then bridge the gap. You know who he is now. Be there for him. He needs parents, right? Be a mother."

"... That's favoritism. As a Hokage to Kono-"

"Anko threw her hand up. "Screw Konoha!" Tsunade turned to face her, her eyes wide.

"Konoha didn't serve him! They didn't help him! Maybe you need to show a little goddamned favoritism every now and then. This village can't always be coddled, sometimes you need to kick its ass!" Kurenai smiled slightly.

Tsunade's mouthed curved, but not too much. "You're right. It's time I help the Shinobi, and not the village as a whole. They can fend for themselves for a while, but the Shinobi are too distant, too far apart. We need to fix that."

Kurenai smiled warmly. "You did say the village needed a doctor."

Naruto walked through the open entryway of the Konoha Academy as a student for the last time. He inhaled the fresh outside air, the smell of wood, and student lunchpails freshly made. It was gonna be a good day. Well, it was, until Sasuke slammed into him.

"Oof! *thump*" Both boys hit the ground. Sasuke squirmed off of Naruto and stood up.

"Sorry." He walk off, attempting to save what little semblance of 'cool' he had left. Sasuke wasn't a bully, and knew when he'd made a mistake, he was just... impersonal. _No, scratch that_, Naruto thought. He was cold. It was everyone else who sucked most, all the fangirls and whatnot. Truth is, Sasuke was just distant and a little emotionless.

Naruto walked down the halls past the bustling crowds, keeping up his 'cheerful attitude' while thinking hard about the future. Today decided if his work would pay off, and many shinobi would pass.

He walked into class and moved through the groups, taking his usual seat next to Sasuke. He turned toward him and stuck out his tongue. Sasuke didn't even look in his direction.

In the back of the class, one 'sleeping' clan heir was silently observing the blond boy with one half-lidded eye. He wanted to know about Naruto more than he'd ever desired to do anything, and it drove him nuts.

Shikamaru was Smart. Hell, he was a Genius. His intelligence at his age was even greater than his father's at the same age, and, like father like son, he didn't apply it. But he was observant. From the first time Naruto had walked into the classroom of Iruka Umino, he'd known something was different about him. He knew he was hiding, he knew he was strong, and most of all... he was afraid of his intelligence. sure, Shikamaru was a genius, but he still had the mind of a freshly twelve year old boy, but Naruto... it seemed like Naruto had the mind of a Jounin, the mind of someone who'd seen all four horsemen of hell and lived to talk about it. He knew he was a kid, and he knew he was 'Naruto', but everything else was just a mystery. Why did everyone hate him? Why were they openly hostile or even aggressively violent toward him? When he'd asked his father, he'd simply said, "Do what you think is best." As much as Shikamaru hated to admit it, he wanted to know more about Naruto, and was willing to do work to find out.

Iruka, from his seat, looked around the room, then stood up.

"All right, settle down." They didn't settle down.

"Settle down, be quiet." Nothing.

_Time for my big head Genjutsu, I guess._ He sucked in a breath of air.

"SHUDDUP!" Everyone in the room was in their seats faster than Kakashi could remove and re-apply his mask. _Hehe, Got you with that one._

"Okay, I know you're all excited. It's been a long four years, and you've been a wonderful first class. I hope the rest of my teaching career is filled with students like you. Now, after today, some of you will be Shinobi. Some won't. But I hope you all carry the Will of Fire deep in your heart, and work to make Konoha a proud and great city. Now let's get started with those exams."

**There you go. More soon. Gimme some feedback and follow to keep up to date with the story. I'd love to hear from you. Adios!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Story Update

So here's the deal.

I lost interest. I know, shit excuse, but I did, and I apologize. But I'm going to fix that. Now heres what I aim to do:

I took on a whole big bunch of ideas I had floating in my head, and I screwed it up. Like a speeding train taking a curve too hard. A curve that was on fire.

I began "Naruto: Master of Deception", "Who Are You Really?", and "Subject 371". And I lost interest. I lost interest because I think I had too many ideas and didn't take the time to write them out. I didn't approach it like a book; instead, I just started typing furiously. So what I plan to do is take all three stories, combine their ideas and aspects...

And center them around Boruto.

HEAR. ME. OUT.

I like Naruto fanfics, but sometimes I feel its too difficult to take such an established character and branch off, while staying true to what the story is about. Bolt? WAAAAAY more open. I can work here. He can be far smarter, better, I can add so much, yet not have so many plot holes. Yeah, he can have issues, but with the original, there's so much that it seems like if you don't add in the entire original story, the right progression of things won't happen. Certain characters won't be who they are at the end. And I think Bolt can be much more interesting, because I feel like the world he lives in has more tech, and as a result, you get imprints of other stories and atmospheres in Naruto. Think the city in Blade Runner, with ninja and espionage. So that's kind of what I aim to do. Combine them.

Because if I don't, nothing is going to happen. Nothing will get made.

I don't have a time frame, nor do I offer a regular update schedule. But I promise you I'll make it. And it will be big.

Very big.

Thanks for reading this far.

UPDATE

So I thought I'd explain the premise of this next story, because someone in a review suggested it. If you like any of the three stories above, listen up.

What I aim to do is combine the ideas I had from all three and put them into one story, centered around Bolt. Now I know Bolt's an unlikable tit most of the time, but honestly, I hate early Naruto more. I do. It's like they made this unbelievably beautiful world, with this incredible backstory, added so much lore and mythos, and then was like, "Hey, who's our main character? I dunno, how about some dude who farts on people?" Yeah, I know he got better, but he was so unlikable to me in the beginning.

Which is the great thing about Fanfiction, is that you can change that. Which is why if you don't like Bolt you don't have to worry. He's not going to be an arrogant asshole. He's going to be smart. And he will be somewhat sarcastic and confident, but not in an annoying way. More of an anti-hero than what Naruto is. Does the right thing, but still kills enemies. He is a shinobi after all.

Now I aim to take most from 'Subject 371' because I went and read it again, and I forgot how much I enjoyed writing it, and how much I enjoyed putting that kind of description in there. I'll take aspects of 'Who Are You Really?' into it as well, probably tell the story after the fact like I did in it. Going back through it, I didn't have as much fun writing it, but I liked what I was trying to do there more than 371, if that makes any sense. It felt less descriptive, but more... promising. More capacity for good, dark moments. I aim to combine these elements into one story. A little humor, a little sadness, a little slice of life. Since 'Who Are You Really?' was a direct re-do of 'Master of Deception', I don't aim to pull a lot from that, but what I was going to do later in that story will be in this one, as will the others. I'd planned a lot and didn't get around to it.

Also, don't panic, it'll be dark but I'm a sucker for a happy ending. Expect implied dark elements like 'offscreen' genocides of small villages by the bad guys, but don't expect, like, rapes or anything. That stuff is a subject I'd rather have nothing to do with. Though there might be a few 'character about to get attacked or assaulted' gets saved right beforehand situations, there won't be anything on screen that happens.

So send me a PM if you have questions, since I find it easier to reply there, and I hope you'll enjoy the new story!

Maybe someday I'll go back and re-do '371' or 'WAYR'. Someday. But for now, I'm doing something else.


End file.
